CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah University women's basketball team will take its final road trip of the 2021-22 regular season Thursday when it squares off against Montana.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah at Montana
Date: February 24, 2022
Tip-off: 7 p.m. MT
Location: Missoula, Montana
Venue: Dahlberg Arena
Stream: ESPN+
Watch | Live Stats | Southern Utah Game Notes
SUU NOTES (16-10, 12-5 Big Sky)
• Southern Utah's last two wins have been by a combined 47 points. SUU knocked off Northern Colorado 77-53 before defeating Northern Arizona by a score of 90-67.
• Thursday's game will mark the Thunderbirds' final opportunity to win a game on Montana's home floor as a member of the Big Sky Conference. SUU has gone winless in Missoula since joining the league for the 2012-13 season.
• Southern Utah is looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since beating Portland State in consecutive meetings at the end of January.
• SUU enters Thursday as the number two team in the Big Sky in scoring at 71.5 points per game. Southern Utah is also the top rebounding team in the conference with an average of 41.9 per contest.
ABOUT MONTANA (16-9, 9-7 Big Sky)
• Montana comes into Thursday's matchup off a close, 70-69 loss at Idaho. Before the setback to the Vandals, Montana had won back-to-back games against Idaho and Portland State.
• Carmen Gfeller and Sammy Fatkin lead the Grizzlies in scoring with an average of 13.4 points per game. Sophia Stiles also averages double figures for Montana at 10.9 points per contest.
• Montana owns the Big Sky's fourth-best scoring offense and second-best scoring defense at 68.6 and 60.6 points per game, respectively.
• The Grizzlies are coached by Brian Holsinger who is in his first season at the helm of the program.
LAST TIME OUT
The Southern Utah University women's basketball team knocked down 12 3-pointers while shooting 54.7 percent from the field as the Thunderbirds claimed a 90-67 victory over Northern Arizona Monday night at the America First Event Center.
SUU's dynamic shooting effort was led by the duo of Natalia Otkhmezuri and Samantha Johnston who combined for 42 points and 11 3-pointers. Otkhmezuri's 25 points were a career high. The Thunderbirds also got major contributions from Lizzy Williamson who added 12 points and eight rebounds, as well as Madelyn Eaton who scored 10 points off the bench. Daylani Ballena facilitated the offense for SUU all night by dishing out seven assists to go with her seven points.
In addition to shooting 54.7 percent overall, Southern Utah knocked down 52.2 percent of its threes. The Thunderbirds also enjoyed an advantage in bench scoring, outscoring NAU 39-17. Defensively, SUU forced the Lumberjacks into 16 turnovers on the night and scored 27 points off those turnovers. The Thunderbirds also enjoyed a slight 34-32 rebounding advantage for the game.
The T-Birds were dominant right from the opening tip as they outscored NAU 30-12 in the opening 10 minutes of the contest. That early effort would result in Southern Utah leading for just over 36 minutes of game time. SUU kept its foot on the gas in the second quarter and took a 21-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
Northern Arizona slowly chipped away throughout the third quarter and trimmed the deficit down to 12 points minutes into the fourth. After coach Sanders called a timeout to help the T-Birds regroup, SUU ripped off a 13-3 run to rebuild its lead and comfortably run out the clock.
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